Monday, 3 March 2008

life is more fun with a dog

Today Penny and I went for a ride on a train. Normally I'm so bored on the train that I sleep, but it was quite a different experience with Penny along. She brought a whole new dimension to the trip, in her reaction to the rumbling and squeaking of the wheels, the tilting and swaying of the floor and the movements to and fro of the other passengers. She enjoyed looking down the corridor between the seats, checking out whether any of the passengers might be friendly. (They weren't.)

I originally set off to walk to the station with my sister, who was going to town, but then I thought Penny might as well experience train travel for the second time in her life. (Her first trip was when she was about nine weeks old.) So we went as far as Clifton Hill, half-way to the city, and then hurried under the subway to catch the homeward-bound train that was waiting at the opposite platform.

If only Penny hadn't stopped to sniff that pole... We missed the train by ten seconds.

However, there was an interesting-looking small park nearby, so we explored that. It was dog-friendly, and had a sign to let us know where Penny could be off-lead,and there was also a special dog-bowl under the drinking tap - very much appreciated, as the day had turned quite warm.

After a quiet walk we hurried back to the station, only to miss the next train by a few seconds. The station master, having seen us rush in twice, suggested that we not go too far away this time, so we waited in the cool tunnel of the subway.

On the return trip the train was less crowded and a couple of young students sat near us. One of them wiggled just one finger at Penny, which of course she took to be an enthusiastic invitation to go across to see him. He was surprised and shrank back from her - apparently not from a dog-owning family. But he seemed okay when I told him she is just friendly.

It was interesting to see that eventually she relaxed enough to lie down. Of course, we arrived at our station as soon as she did that - but I think she'll be more inclined to enjoy our next trip. I'm glad that in Melbourne dogs are allowed on trains. I've heard that they are banned in Sydney trains.

DOG-WOW, Penny, I have never been on a train. My Mum thinks I would take up too much room and get in the way of other passengers. the park was full of students yesterday and I disgraced myself by wanting to lick all the students, especially those who were bending down- doing their exercises or one boy who was actually lying down on the grass. he just looked as though he wanted to play!!Jabari

Sounds like a really fun trip! I love new experiences, even though they are scary sometimes!

The first time Mum took me canoing was quite an adventure. Road in a car with three other dogs, road a school bus to get to the canoe, canoed down the river a few miles, swam - it was great! I love days of new adventure...

Amber-Mae, it's an interesting question about allowing dogs on public transport. Here in Melbourne we are very worried about climate change, because it's starting to look as if Australia will be one of the worst places to experience it. So we are trying to cut back on cars. Well, it seems to me that if we make everyone go on public transport then we'll need to take our dogs with us some of the time, or we won't be able to go to interesting places with them.

Jabari, you are certainly a big dog, so I think that if you go on a train you must have a muzzle, and I'm pretty sure you would hate that. As to your adventures in the park yesterday, I guess the students will have to stand up if they don't want to be licked! ;-) Oh, sorry, I meant, 'kissed'.

Wow, Penny! That's great that you get to go on the train with your mom! We don't have any trains around here for people, except the historical one. It sounds like fun!Mom agrees with you're mom, life IS more fun with a dog! She says cats help out in the fun department too. Mom is kinda weird, but I love her anyway.